Today was a Fairytale
by accioweasleys4
Summary: "Time slows down whenever you're around..." Fred's at that age where his feelings toward girls are changing...an AU Fremione childhood fic.


**A/N: I'm on a roll tonight, I can't seem to stop writing stuff. I know this'll be the last time I have lots of time to write for awhile so I'm trying to get it all out quickly as if my next breath depends on it. Anyway, here's another Fremione fic! This is set before Hogwarts... It's also AU because Fred and Hermione grew up with each other and the twins and Hermione are childhood friends. It's written for the Great Maze Challenge/Competition, the December Scavenger Hunt Competition and possibly a few others. I used the prompt write about your OTP in an AU for the scavenger hunt, and somebody rescuing somebody in a tree for the Great Maze Challenge. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does. Taylor Swift owns the title of the fic.**

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><p>Fred and George went hiking near the woods at the Burrow one day with their brothers and they stopped at their favorite climbing tree. They stopped short when they saw their friend, Hermione Granger there reading, but their smiles remained on their faces as they sat down on both sides of her.<p>

The twins met each other's eyes as the girl continued to not notice them before finally speaking. "Hello, Granger," Fred said, speaking first.

"AH!" Hermione jumped in fright, causing her book to tumble onto the ground. She looked sideways at the twins and then she gazed sadly at her book. "Oh, no. Some of the pages and the cover is damaged!" She looked so crestfallen and Fred immediately felt guilty. He knew he should hide it since the twins still didn't want to show interest in girls yet. He didn't want to be the first twin to show interest, though it was getting harder to deny his feelings to himself.

"Oh well," Fred said as Hermione tried to repair the book. "It's just a book."

"Yeah," George said, nodding in agreement. "Why do you need a book when you have you two best friends for entertainment?"

Hermione scowled. "I don't know if I'd call you my best friends right now. The Princess Bride is one of my favorite books after all."

Fred pretended to look hurt at her words, and George decided to get down to business. "I know you were here first and all-"

"But you're at our favorite tree," Fred finished for him."

Hermione gave him a pointed look. "So?" she asked him, rolling her eyes.

"So, we would like to climb it. You'll have to move somewhere else."

She put her hands on her hips. "I was here first though," she said.

"We were wanting to go tree climbing," George answered as he casually rested an elbow on her shoulder.

"So, go. I'm not stopping you," Hermione said as she opened her book again.

Fred put a hand in between the pages to stop her from reading.

"Fred Weasley, if you damage my book further, I swear I'll-"

He grinned at her. "You'll what?"

"I'll inflict more harm on you."

"You can stay," Fred said suddenly.

George's head whipped up quickly and he narrowed his eyes. "But this is a no girl's tree!"

Fred gave his twin a look that said he had an idea in mind. "You can stay if you climb with us."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "That's not fair at all! You know I'm afraid of heights," she said, whacking him with her book.

Fred ducked his head and grinned. "I know…it's a brilliant plan."

She grew quiet and stood finally. "Fine then. I see I'm not wanted here. I'll see you later."

Fred and George high fived each other, though Fred couldn't help but feel that he was a bit too harsh with Hermione. She was their best friend after all.

Hours later at Burrow they were just getting ready for dinner when Mrs. Weasley frowned. "Boys… where's Hermione? She's our responsibility when she's here during the summer. Ginny's already looked all over the house for her. It's about to storm too."

The twin's eyes widened. "We don't know," they said at the same time, though Fred suddenly thought he might know where she was at.

"I'll be back soon," he said, standing up.

George looked alarmed. "I'll come with you," he said, as he started to stand up.

Fred shook his head. "No, I need to fix a mistake." He looked at his mother hopefully, and she sighed.

"Just bring Hermione back safely."

"I'll show that Fred Weasley," Hermione muttered as she made her way back to the tree awhile later. She didn't know it was supposed to rain. But she still wanted to prove to Fred that she wasn't too afraid to climb trees or to hang out with them.

She could be as daring as they were…her anxiety grew as she looked up at the tree. It seemed taller than it had during the other afternoons she spent there. Honestly, what was the fun in climbing them anyway? She supposed now was a good time to start. She gathered her upper body strength and began to climb slowly.

Hermione perched herself on a comfortable tree branch and looked around proudly. She had made it! It was actually quite nice up here….until it started pouring at least. She looked around again. How was she going to get down? She looked down and saw how high up she really was and felt dizzy at the thought. Her breath caught as her fear of heights appeared again. Nobody knew she was there…absolutely nobody. Tears appeared in her eyes as she leaned forward a bit. The movement caused the tree branch to wobble a bit, and she grabbed onto it in fright. There was no denying this… she was stuck.

"HELP! Please…somebody! Get me down from here!" Her breathing was growing heavier, and she could feel herself growing hot. "Help…" She didn't care that she was crying in earnest then.

"Hermione?" Her head looked up quickly when she heard one of the twins… the voice was too far away for her to be able to tell which one it was. "Hermione!"

This time she picked up on which one it was. "Fred! I'm up here…Fred, please get me down, please," Hermione begged as she held onto the tree branch even tighter.

Fred was finally at the bottom of the tree, and he looked up. "Bloody hell, how'd you manage to climb that high?" he asked in an impressed tone.

"I don't know, just get me down please!" Hermione begged in a panicked voice.

"I'm coming up. Just stay calm."

"How can I stay calm when I'm fifty feet up in the air?" she snapped at him.

Fred was silent for a moment. "I was hoping you didn't know that."

"Fred!"

"I'm already climbing!"

Hermione closed her eyes tightly and held her breath as she tried not to think about the ground below. Maybe she'd be down there already if she counted to ten…

She felt the branch move suddenly and opened her eyes. Fred gave her a kind smile. "Hi," he said quietly. Hermione let go of the breath she had been holding and wrapped her arms around him. She buried her head into his chest so she wouldn't have to see the ground below.

Fred wrapped his arms protectively around her and used one hand to wipe the tears away from her face. "It's ok," he murmured softly. "It's ok."

Hermione's breathing was suddenly returning to normal as she looked up at him. "How…how did you know I was here?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "Lucky guess, really. I'm sorry I was mean earlier."

"That doesn't matter anymore."

"But that's why you're here," Fred said.

"Really, it doesn't matter," Hermione said, waving a hand at him.

"But-" Fred started to protest and she cut him off.

"Honestly, I'll forgive you if you just get me down. Please!" Hermione was growing exasperated with him.

"Why are you so afraid of heights?" Fred asked her curiously, tilting his head and looking at her.

"I just don't like being up high," Hermione answered quickly.

"But why? It's not so bad once you get used to it," he answered in a patient voice.

She sighed as she grew quiet. Hermione finally answered a moment later. "My aunt died in a plane crash when I was five. She was my favorite aunt too. I just always blamed heights for her death…it's stupid, I guess."

Fred wished he hadn't asked now. "Oh…" he grew uncomfortable, though his grip on her was more protective than it had been before. "I'm sorry."

Hermione scooted closer toward him. "It's ok…it was five years ago. I'd really like to get down right now though."

He nodded and moved so he could climb down first. "Just follow my lead," he instructed her, carefully watching and making sure she didn't slip and fall. Fred made sure he was patient and encouraging so he didn't increase her fear even more.

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><p>When their feet finally touched the ground, Hermione wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you!" she breathed out, sounding very relieved.<p>

Fred leaned down and pressed his lips against hers softly without thinking twice about it. He just knew that he wanted to kiss her that whole afternoon, and he suddenly reacted. He felt a spark and they quickly pulled away.

Hermione's eyes were wide when they pulled apart, but she didn't look completely mortified and he took it as a good thing. "Thanks for rescuing me," she mumbled finally after a moment. Her cheeks were red by now.

"Anytime," he murmured quietly. "We should get back now. Mum will be worried."

They held hands as they walked back and separated when George walked out the door. He threw them a surprised look. "Mum was just sending me to check on you two. Is everything ok?" He looked back and forth between the two suspiciously.

"Yeah, we're fine. Hermione was just stuck in a tree."

George frowned at her. "But you hate heights."

Hermione nodded. "I know… that confirmed my fear even more. But Fred was amazing." She looked away and took a step back when she realized how she might've sounded.

"Well come on in," George said finally after a moment of silence. "Mum's making hot cocoa right now."

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks for reading!**


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